Wednesday, 28 September 2011

I am back from the show, unpacked and somewhat caught up. I am still very busy with a number of projects (including getting a new mailed offering pulled together), so this offering my end up being a bit shorter then some. This is a mixed lot of material. Some I have had (but forgot), some are consigned and some I picked up at the show.

MUNDRABILLA, Australia: Medium octahedrite (ungrouped). Found 1911.Here are a few really nice little individuals (all are above average in shape for their size). I got these from a collection back in the summer and forgot I had (probably could have sold them if I had them in Denver). These are natural as found and have a nice brown/orange coloration.1) Individuals as found:a) 23.7 grams – 29mm x 18mm x 10mm - $25 – dumbbell shaped.b) 33.5 grams – 37mm x 20mm x 12mm - $35c) 85.7 grams – 28mm x 28mm x 27mm - $90 – really nice knobby shape.

CLAXTON, Georgia: (L6). Fell December 10, 1984. Tkw = 1,455grams.This is the famous one that hit a mailbox. I actually owned the mailbox for a number of years (5 or 6) before someone made me an offer I could not refuse (actually, I needed money for a piece of land, so I was far more receptive to selling the thing than I would normally have been. I would probably still have the thing otherwise. But now I still have the 3 acres in Wyoming that I got with it). These specimens are neatly mounted in a small Riker box with a picture of the smashed mailbox end (with someone holding the complete meteorite over it to show how it hit) and a card (with a photo of the complete mailbox) and info on the meteorite. I have only these two specimens.1) Slices:a) .240 grams – 6mm x 6mm x 2mm - $120b) .576 grams – 11mm x 10mm x 2mm - $290

GAO, Burkina Faso: (H5). Fell March 5, 1960. Tkw = 100+ kilograms.This is a really nice oriented complete individual. It has a rounded dome on one side (with some hints of flow lines – rare for this fall) and bubbly crust on the backside (which is pointed, not flat though, hiding the fact that this is oriented a bit). This has not been cleaned but is still one o the freshest Gao stones I have had. The crust is mostly dark gray to black (but has some dark chocolate areas and adhering dirt yet).128.5 gram oriented individual – 50mm x 45mm x 33mm - $250

GOLD BASIN, Arizona: (L4). Found 1995. Tkw = 170+ kilograms.I got this large chunk in a trade at the show. It is blocky but it is indeed a complete individual. It shows a lot of both primary and secondary crust as well as a flat 110mm x 75mm slickenside face (late violent shearing break, or a break along an existing shock vein). I have not cleaned this at all, so it has quite a lot of caliche still adhering to it (I don't have proper air-abrasion equipment and I am worried that an acid bath may end up really screwing up this thing). This would probably make a great specimen for cutting into slices (which my indeed happen later if I don't sell it intact here).1912.2 gram individual – 10mm x 10mm x 60mm - $1600

HYATTVILLE, Wyoming: (L6). Found April 2008. Tkw = 8911grams.The bulk of this (4.8kg or so) is in a private collection in Canada. I am already running low on what I had of this. These are a couple large samples cut from a flat fragment that I had someone with better (larger) equipment cut for me (he delivered them too me at the show). These are, by far, my largest specimens remaining of this stuff and perfect for the collector that wants larger surface area display pieces.a) 81.7 gram slice – 115mm x 70mm x 3.5mm - $370b) 222.2 gram cut fragment – 120mm x 70mm x 10mm - $875 – some crust along edge.

PERRYTON, Texas: (LL6). Found 1975, recognized 1995. Tkw = 2114 grams.This one escapes me. I was going to comment that this is one of the very lowest total known weight Texas meteorites I have handled since my days of field work in west Texas many years ago. It turns out that this is indeed one of the meteorite I recovered back then! I have no records of offering this on any form of public list (nor do I have any info cards made up for it, indicating that I DID NOT offer this one). I (embarrassingly) do not remember what I did with this one. I obviously sold this thing intact off to someone. This is the first I have seen of this stuff since getting it out of the field and reporting it, so it obviously disappeared down a deep hole somewhere. This is not real impressive stuff to look at, but it is not all that weathered either. It shows quite a lot of fine metal flakes in a mottled brown to nearly black matrix (this looks almost identical to a really nice thumb-printed fully crusted NWA I picked up at the show. I finally gave in and cut a thin corner off as my curiosity over its weak magnetic attraction finally got the best of me). These are all part slices; the largest being nearly a ½ slice with quite nice crust along some 60% of its edge. Please note: I have only 54 grams of this material.1) Part slices:a) 1.8 grams – 22mm x 12mm x 2mm - $45b) 4.2 grams – 22mm x 22mm x 2mm - $100c) 8.5 grams – 32mm x 31mm x 2mm - $200 – 50% of edge crustedd) 26.7 grams – 73mm x 47mm x 2mm - $600 – 60+% edge crusted.

LAFAYETTE, Indiana: Martian (Nakhlite). Found before 1931. Tkw = 800grams.This stone is among the best examples of orientation ever seen. It was cut none the less, but then we would not know it is a Mars rock if it were not. This is likely a witnessed fall as it is very fresh and was reported to have been seen to fall (but the person who gave the stone to Purdue could not be found to confirm this). This is a tiny crumb (about 1.5mm across) in a nice Riker display with a picture of Mars and a picture of the super oriented main mass of this meteorite.Crumb (1.5mm) in Riker display - $125

Here is the info for the Denver show this next week (waaaay to soon, I am just now beginning to pack) and a small offering of Monig specimens (most have Monig Collection labels – I'll make note of those that do or do not in the descriptions).

SHOW INFO:As usual. I will be in the Holiday Inn "Denver Central" (4849 Bannock St for any of you wanting to use a GPS to find the place). Also as usual, I will be in room 224. I should be set up and have my door open by noon Tuesday (the 13th). I will be open through late afternoon Sunday (the 18th). The days in between I should have my door open by 10am and plan on being open until about 10pm. HOWEVER, I may close early Friday night so I can attend the COMETS auction and festivities, so don't be surprised to find my door shut after 6:30 or so that day.

I will be leaving either Saturday mid day or Sunday morning (leaning towards Sunday as far behind as I am at the moment) and will not be getting back until September 21st (as I will be staying in Denver a couple days after the show to generally goof-off). SO, please don't expect to reach me between the 9th and the 21st. I do apologize that this does not leave a lot of time to look over this small offering. I will do my best to have any orders packed up and ready to ship right up until Friday night though.

PONY CREEK, Texas. (H4). Found 1947. Tkw = 4.6kg.I had a special request for some of this during the Denver Spring show. I was completely out of the little amount I had of this from earlier so I had to beg for a bit more. I got a nice box containing a hand full more pieces of this material. This is weathered, but still shows lots of metal in a dark (almost black) gray-green matrix. Not a lot of this was cut, so I don't expect to see much of this once these pieces are gone. All of these except the 2 smallest come with a Monig label.1) Slices:a) 4.9 grams – 34mm x 15mm x 3mm - $20b) 6.8 grams – 55mm x 25mm x 2mm - $30c) 12.1 grams – 35mm x 20mm x 5mm - $48d) 19.3 grams – 70mm x 35mm x 2mm - $80e) 29.8 grams – 50mm x 20mm x 6mm - $120f) 86.5 grams – 90mm x 65mm x 5mm - $325

TSAREV, Russia: (L5). Found 1968. Tkw = 1132kg.Here are 4 slices of this material (this is all I have, so no replacements are available for sold pieces on this one). This is quite weathered. It does not show any clear metal grains, just spots and veins of magnetite and hematite. I seem to recall that all of the pieces I have seen of this meteorite are like this. This is not a big surprise to me as my XRF showed that there is quite a lot of chlorine hiding in this stuff (7 or 8% I think). All of these pieces come with a Monig Collection label.1) Slices:a) 5.1 grams – 19mm x 13mm x 7mm - $20b) 11.8 grams – 27mm x 19mm x 6mm - $40c) 17.4 grams – 45mm x 18mm x 6mm - $55d) 39.0 grams – 52mm x 30mm x 7mm - $120

SOMERVELL COUNTY, Texas: (Pallasite). Found 1919. Tkw = 11.8kg.Here a few odd pieces of this pallasite that I received along with a bit larger (and nicer) specimen that I specially asked for a friend who wanted a piece of this. These are indeed all odd and not highly prepared. The smallest does resemble somewhat an end piece. The 4.9g piece is a long rough cut slice portion. The largest is actually fairly nice, but it is stuck in a chunk of resin. None of these are particularly nice, but then, very little of this is available in any form. NOTE THOUGH, that I think Ann Black is having some of this material prepared up in slices that are properly polished. So, those of you that want to wait may have a shot at some better pieces. Anther note – none of these specimens came with a label. These were really kind of left over cutting scraps. a) 3.7 gram end piece – 13mm x 11mm x 7mm - $55b) 4.9 gram slice – 28mm x 8mm x 6mm - $65c) about 5g end piece in resin – 22mm x 22mm x 5mm - $70